1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a combined radar and laser detector that enables a driver to drive safely and, more particularly, to a combined radar and laser detector, which has a global positioning system receiver capable of detecting global positioning system data related to the location and speed of a moving vehicle and uses wireless communication, so that the combined radar and laser detector can not only provide accurate traffic information to a driver, but also allow the installation thereof to be easy, the miniaturization thereof to be achieved, and the power consumption thereof to be minimized.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various traffic safety devices for the safe driving of vehicles have been developed and used. In particular, the use of a combined radar and laser detector is generalized in U.S. and Europe to enable a driver to drive safely using traffic information, such as low speed zones, school zones and road maintenance/construction zones, provided to the driver through microwaves and a laser.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the construction of a conventional combined radar and laser detector, and the conventional combined radar and laser detector includes a horn antenna 10, a signal processing unit 20 for detecting a signal received through the horn antenna 10, a laser module 30 for receiving a laser signal, a central processor unit 40 for controlling the detection of the signals received through the signal processing unit 20 and the laser module 30, a visual display means 50 for visually displaying the detected signals, and an audible indication means 60 for audibly outputting the detected signals through an audio amplification unit 61.
The conventional combined radar and laser detector 1 constructed as described above is generally mounted on a dashboard using a fastening means, as shown in FIG. 2. However, in the case of mounting the combined radar and laser detector 1 in a vehicle, a problem arises in that various kinds of signals enabling the driver to drive safely cannot be easily received.
That is, a combined radar and laser detector generally uses a high frequency of 10 to 40 GHz, but the high frequency has directionality, so that the horn antenna needs to be located on the front of the vehicle.
However, in the case of mounting the horn antenna on the front of the vehicle, work is required to connect the horn antenna, placed outside the vehicle, with a visual display means and an audible indication means, placed inside the vehicle and adapted to provide traffic information to the driver through a wire, so that a problem arise in that it is difficult to install the combined radar and laser detector.
Additionally, the conventional combined radar and laser detector is constructed in such a way that the horn antenna and other components are integrated into a single body, so that the size of the combined radar and laser detector is large, and thus problems arise in that it is difficult to ensure a space for installation and excessive power consumption is incurred.
Furthermore, the conventional combined radar and laser detector is disadvantageous in that it cannot provide various kinds of information to the driver. To solve the above problems, there have been attempts to combine a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, which detects GPS data related to the location and speed of a moving vehicle, with the combined radar and laser detector to provide accurate and various kinds of traffic information to a driver. However, a problem still arises in that faulty operations occur due to frequency interference when the combined radar and laser detector is constructed to include the GPS receiver, so that it is difficult to guarantee the reliability of the operation of the combined radar and laser detector.